We arrived mid- morning and had tickets for the all day Bunraku Puppetry Theatre so we dumped our bags in the station and headed down to here
for a 4 and a half hour show. It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it. The puppets are half human size and are operated by three people; the main puppeteer operates the body and facial expressions and the other two operate the hands and feet respectively. The story is told by a narrator and musician. These two work together for life.
The play is made up of several parts. The first part is about 45 minutes long and comprises a couple of dances by special puppets. After this, there is a 30 minute break where everyone breaks out their lunch and either eats it in the foyer or munches it at their seat.
Then from 12 until 3.30 there is only one 5 minute break. It's a long afternoon. The puppetry is often very slow moving. More than once, Jason and I fell into a dream state, almost hallucinatory, the kind of sleep now known as Bunraku Hallucinations.
We hired English audio commentary which was a great investment as it explained the scripts and the movements of the puppets. Made for a 17th century audience, there were parts of it where it's easy to lose concentration and drift off. Especially in a warm theatre. Most people there, at some point, fell asleep.
It was a great experience and I'm so glad we did it.
There was a wee museum attached to the theatre where you got to try out a puppet. Here's a wee video of Jason wowing the Japanese audience.
After this, we left our bags at the station for now, as we were heading to the Aquarium.....
No comments:
Post a Comment